Good news & bad news

[pierrelogic]

Good news - Received my Ride-on tubes today. I just bought two new Kenda tires for the front and discovered I have some unusual vibration coming from the right wheel only while while at freeway speed. I called the dealer and they suggested taking some of the balancing weights off a little at a time to see if that helps ( I have 5 weights on there now). If not they said bring it back and they'd fix it. I will try their suggestion but expect to be making another trip to the dealer this Saturday to let them make this right. I have the Ride-on now as a failsafe...once the vibration is resolved.

Bad news - got into my oil change today and only got one drain plug off. The other under the crankcase with the magnet stripped on the head where the allen wrench goes. :gaah:

This is my primary vehicle so I opted to go ahead and change the filter, drain all the oil I could out and put new Amsoil in. Yes, I know about 1/2 litre was still in there but I have a master plan. This oil change should last me until the dreaded 12,000 mile check-up. At that point since I planned on involving the dealer on that maintenance I really can't do myself so I will let them deal with the crankcase plug.

Any thoughts on my decision with the oil change or tire vibration?

 

[NancysToy]

I don't think the oil change decision will hurt you much, especially if you are using full synthetic oil. You couldn't clean the magnet, but they normally aren't too dirty after the initial oil change. In the meantime, order a new drain plug...either BRP or aftermarket. An easy-out should remove the plug, or another type of screw extractor. With good access, you may even be able to use vise-grips. It is junk now, anyway.

Rando had that vibration problem after adding the Ride-On, and found a bent (or improperly machined) rim. Check the rim for vertical and radial runout. If I was removing the weights, I'd remove them all.

 

[boborgera]

Bad news - got into my oil change today and only got one drain plug off. The other under the crankcase with the magnet stripped on the head where the allen wrench goes. :gaah:

I know this probably won't help you now, But i've dealt with a lot of Allen's over the years and i found that the best way to remove them with out stripping is to tap the Allen with a lite hammer almost like your trying nail it in so the Allen gets a good bite on the head, Any kind lose or warble fit will almost always strip a Allen head. Especially on soft medal and working upside down. Hope this helps someone else, there seems to be a few striped plugs lately.

 

[Firefly]

I now always use a ratchet allen for the drain plugs-- works great.

I'd let the dealer get it out at your 12K. Many ways to do it.

On the tires--- I'd yank ALL the wheel weights, put the ride-on in and RIDE IT! Should balance out within a few miles.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Rando had that vibration problem after adding the Ride-On, and found a bent (or improperly machined) rim. Check the rim for vertical and radial runout. If I was removing the weights, I'd remove them all.

GIJoe had the same problem with one of his rims. They put it on the balancer before putting the tire on, and you could clearly see the rim was out of round.

I did not put the Ride-On in my front tires, as one of them currently has 13 weights on it. It is obviously a defective tire issue, as it needed the same exact amount of weight on the new black powder coated rim as it had on the stock rim. GIJoe checked the stock rim when I sold them to him, and found it was perfectly round. So that confirms my suspicions as well.

The Ride-On brochure said it can make a bad situation worse, and that is why I am going to get a new set of front tires before adding the Ride-On. I will most likely go with Bridgestone Potenzas in the stock size this time.

Best of luck getting your issue sorted out.

 

[NancysToy]

I now always use a ratchet allen for the drain plugs-- works great.

:agree: Also, push in (up) on the head of the ratchet with one hand, to seat the socket, while applying pressure to turn it with the other hand.

 

[pierrelogic]

On the tires--- I'd yank ALL the wheel weights, put the ride-on in and RIDE IT! Should balance out within a few miles.

I seriously considered doing this. But since my dealer IS my warranty I am going to try their suggestion first. Ironic this vibration is coming from the same tire that wore early on the inside. opcorn:

I'm taking the weights off tomorrow and giving that a shot first. I will also call the dealer and reaffirm with the shop I'm doing exactly what they suggested. If it doesn't remedy the situation they should expect to see me Saturday morning. This will get it fixed one way or the other. I'm not dropping $200+ on new OEM tires, balancing and mounting and driving away with a vibration again. Especially when the old worn out tire was not vibrating. I am confident the wheels are fine too since I watched them from start to finish and nothing looked unusual when they put the new ones on. I used to work at a full service gas station and changed a few tires back in the day. I did learn something about the OEM tires yesterday. The dots on the side of the Kenda's are where the valves should be located. At least that's not an issue with mine.

This could be a very interesting next few days....

 

[SpyderWolf]

This could be a very interesting next few days....

Keep us posted.

 

[pierrelogic]

Did what the dealer suggested and took off all five (yes 5) weights today and went for a ryde. Vibration gone! :yes: Now I feel confident putting the Ride-on in the tires this weekend. Life is getting better.

But this begs some questions. Granted I'm a new rider but I'm assuming the normal laws of physics applies here. The 5 weights seemed like a lot to me. So much so why did this tire not vibrate off the balancer? I watched the tech do his thing and there was no vibration on the machine. Yes, I triple checked for other possibilities like mud or a piece of asphalt stuck on the tire somewhere. Nothing was on the rim but the weights. To make that much of an improvement taking the weights off is quite a mystery. I mean if this was a defective tire removing the weights would not have made that much difference. If anything it should have made it worse. I'm just a bit confused.

Chalk this one up to either good fortune or plain dumb luck I guess. :dontknow: